Sasuke's Decision
by VBear94
Summary: The Final Fourth Shinobi World War is over and now Sasuke wants to battle Naruto one last time, but Sakura tries to stop him. Will her words reach out to him? Sequel to Sasuke's Forgotten Memory. (SasuSaku) Completed!
1. Chapter 1: I'm Sorry

Author's Note: All rights go to the creator of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto. I used most of the lines from the manga in order for everything to go well with the story and for those of you who still haven't finished reading the volumes, you get an idea of what is going on so far. Thank you!

* * *

After I had finally traveled back to my village, I had made my decision. I am going to protect Konoha but in my own way. I believed that it was the current Hokage and the five other Kage's were responsible for the world and it's problems, I vowed to become Hokage and change it. Tucking the cherry blossom which was still pinned to my shirt to the inside, I made my way to the battlefield.

After we battled in the Fourth Final Shinobi World War alongside the four reincarnated Hokages that I brought back, against Madara Uchiha and Kaguya, we were exhausted, but I still wanted to finish my plan to start a new world.

"It is now time to end the Infinite Tsukoyomi." Hagoromo said, approaching us. "Naruto, Sasuke, by combining the tailed beasts chakra inside of you and Sasuke's Rinnegan, we can end this genjutsu." Naruto of course agreed and was willing to do it, but I wasn't.

"I'm going to execute the five Kages that are still inside the Infinite Tsukoyomi." I said, glaring at them.

"What exactly did you just say Sasuke?" Demanded Kakashi who stood there, glaring at me right next to Sakura who gave me a worried look. I ignored his question and glanced back at the tailed beasts who stood there, snarling at me. I closed my left eye then quickly opened it up, activating my Rinnegan. "And on top of that, tailed beasts, I am going to place all of you under my control!" The tailed beasts froze in place, now under my control.

Haguromo kept looking at me, astonished at how I managed to put them all under my control in just once glance before turning to look back at Naruto

"Naruto, so as expected, it's come to this. There's no choice but I have leave this to you. My time in this world is coming to an end."

"You may not like this either," Naruto said to him, "but we're not going end up like your kids. I am not Asura, and," he turned to look at me, "Sasuke is not Indra either!"

"Sasuke!" yelled Kakashi at me. "Is that still what your dream is right now? Are you saying you still want nothing more than revenge?"

I turned to look at them. "While it's true I once desired destruction, and the only goal I had was revenge, things are different now. Because that which is destroyed can always be fixed and rebuilt. Villages freed from the clutches and employ of darkness. What I desire is to reform the shinobi world. What I am calling for, what I will bring forth, is revolution!"

"What?! Did you just say.. revolution?" He yelled. I ignored his question once again, and turned back to the tailed beasts.

"Chibaku Tensei!" I cried out, clapping my hands together once and I watched as the ground began to shake, rocks hurled out from the ground and onto the beasts, quickly overcoming them trapping each and everyone once of them in a sphereical planetoid.

"Naruto! Help us!" screamed Kurama before he was covered up in the rocks.

"I'm going to get you out of there no matter what!" Naruto shouted up at Kurama as his and the other planetoids began floating up towards the sky and stopped about 100 feet up, hovering over us. I watched as Naruto watched the tailed beasts trapped in their planetoids, clenching his hands into fists.

"So, he didn't work out either." Haguromo said. "Entrusting just one of them with power resulted in Indra and Ashura in the past. Entrusting them both with power will now only bring forth the same results.."

"No!" shouted Naruto. "The brothers' feud.. I'm going to end it here!" Naruto snapped his head in my direction. "Why won't you release the tailed beasts? They've finally gotten their freedom and I've gotten to know each of them so well. They won't be doing any evil no more!"

I chuckled, shaking my head at him. Oh, Naruto. You really are an idiot.

"Naruto, it appears as though you still don't understand. You are now the jinchuriki for every single one of the tailed beasts, so of course their chakras all reside inside of you, which is included when I say I plan to destroy every single one of them! In other words, you're going to die." He continued to glare at me.

"Just like the sage said, "I said, continuing my explanation. "I don't need the tailed beasts power that's inside of you to dispel the infinite tsukoyomi. As long as I have the tailed beasts under my control to use, I'll keep them alive.. 'till then at least."

"I won't let you get away with this Sasuke!" yelled Naruto at me. I stood there, completely unfazed by his words. As if I cared. I was going to kill him and I was going to end this once and for all. I smirked at him.

"So I suppose I'll have to start with you Naruto, "I said, turning around and walking away but not before stopping in my tracks, "but not here. I have another place in mind. You know where."

"Wait, Sasuke!" yelled Kakashi, as he tried to stand up, but he fell back down on his knees. He was still feeling the after effects of the Sharingan. With my back still to them, I heard Sakura's voice.

".. I love you! No matter what's happened, I still care about you more than I can bear!" Her words made me shake inside. "If I could've taken all your pain onto myself, I would have. Here we are again, the three of us, and still all I do is just cry! I am so pathetic.."

" _ **No you're not Sakura."** _ I wanted to turn around and tell her, but instead I kept listening.

"But.. I love you Sasuke! If I still have a place in your heart, no matter how small it may be, please, I'm begging you, don't slip away any further!"

My heart then began beating faster and faster. **"** _ **You do have a place in my heart Sakura**." _ I wanted to tell her. _" **You've always had ever since we were little, even if it took me a long time to notice it."** _

"If we all just stayed together forever, then I'm sure someday, things will go back to the way they used to be." She finished, crying her eyes out. My whole body then began to shake and I suddenly felt a sad pain in my heart. I hated hearing her cry. It felt to me like it was just breaking my heart just to hear her. Something inside of me was telling me to stop this all. To tell Sakura I loved her, to apologize to Naruto, and to release the tailed beasts, but it didn't seem to get through to me. Even though I didn't want to do this, I had to. I had to settle this once and for all with Naruto, and I couldn't let anyone get in the way, not even her.

I slowly turned my head, my Rinnegan meeting Sakura's eyes.

"You really are damned annoying." I said to her. Then, running full speed at her, I conjured up my chidori, and pierced right through her chest and into her heart, casting my genjutsu.

Time seemed to go by in slow motion as we both stood there, my hand right through her chest, her eyes staring back at me in shock and horror, tears still running down her face. I hated to do this to her. It hurt me deep inside. I felt a tear run down my face.

"I'm sorry." I whispered to her. "I am so sorry." I took my hand out of her chest and watched as her eyes slowly closed and fell back down beside Kakashi, unconscious. I continued to stare at her. Even though she was now under my genjutsu, she was still crying tears for me. I could feel a lump growing in my throat, more tears were starting to form in my eyes, but I held them back. As I continued looking at her, something caught my eye. In her hand, gently waving in the wind, was a cherry blossom. The same one that was pinned to my shirt after I saw my mother.

 **" _I am so sorry, Sakura.."_**


	2. Chapter 2: Thank You

**Chapter Two: Thank You**

* * *

"Why the hell did you do that to her Sasuke?!" Screamed Naruto at me, rushing to Sakura's side. I stepped away from them and looked away. I couldn't bear to see her like that.

"If I hadn't, she was just going to come after us and I didn't want her to get in the way." I said with my back to him.

"Sasuke.." I heard Kakashi say behind me. "Sakura never once stopped wanting to save you." I slowly turned my head to look at him. "Ever since that night you left Konoha, all she wanted to do was save you from Orochimaru and bring you back home. She trained so hard for this. To bring you back. And whenever someone bad mouthed you, she would get so mad and go off on them. She never once stopped caring about you."

 _'She never stopped caring about me?'_ I thought to myself. My mind flashed back to when Sakura held my hand while I was in excruciating pain from the curse mark Orochimaru had inflicted on me. I remember when I was battling Gaara, she stood in front of me to block his attack. I shook those memories out of my head. I couldn't let anything stop me right now. I had to settle this with Naruto once and for all.

"Was she having fun in her little make believe fantasy of true love?" I angrily said to him. "I have absolutely no reason to love her just like she has no reason to even love me."

"The only time you need a reason is to hate someone. All she ever wanted was to be yours! All she wanted to do was to save you! That was her goal after you left Konoha. She loves you Sasuke. She loves you so much it's breaking her own heart!" He yelled at me.

"Well those feelings she has, are from a past that no longer exists to me." I replied, thinking back to the picture of me and my family that had been taken years ago when I was younger. "Naruto!" I called out. "I'll be waiting for you!" With that, I set off to The Final Valley.

* * *

After some time of being pursued by Naruto, we both finally made it to the Final Valley. We were both perched on top of each statue head. I, on Madara's, and Naruto on Hashirama's. We both stared at each other from our places.

"This place sure does bring back old memories of our battles, doesn't it Sasuke?" Naruto asked me. It sure did. The memories of our first battle where I was the victor. I remembered staring down into Naruto's face as he lay unconscious, wondering whether I should kill him or not. In the end, I didn't. I was going to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan my own way, not the way Itachi told me to.

"And just like those memories, you will be the one to lose once more." I taunted him

"I'm not weak like I was back then. I've trained, I've gotten stronger each and every day. And, I'm not going to let you get away with this. I'm not going to have you over the title of Hokage just like that! You don't even know what it means to be Hokage!"

"The Hokage I'm talking about," I said to him, "Will bring me to my answer. Itachi was the one who led me to this answer. He sacrificed his life and that of his own clan. I will first find out just what exactly the country and village that he went so far to protect actually are?" Naruto continued to watch me, listening.

"In order to stop the countless clans and children from killing each other, the villages were used as a framework, one that would lead to peace, just like our ancestors once said. My brother alone was used to maintain that peace and keep it in balance. He was made into a criminal of the villages and a traitor to his own country. And while he took all that hatred onto himself, he was a shinobi who protected our village while staying in the shadows. Itachi was the true Hokage!" My hands began clenching into fists, remembering how intelligent and brave my brother was. He deserved the title of being Hokage!

"I don't have my brother, my father, or my mother. I don't have anyone else of my clan left. I am all alone! And now, I can bear all that hatred onto myself, and then, I will take care of everything by myself. I will deal with all the shinobi problems my way. I will be the one to hand down the judgment and punishment of each and every single one of them. I will let all that hatred center on myself, and I will unify the villages. This hatred in the darkness must disappear and it will here soon." I looked at Naruto, who was still watching me. "The Hokage I'm talking about," I continued, "Is the person who sets fire to all the villages' darkness with his own flames and eats the ashes and continues to carry on and survive."

"And you think everyone is just going to be okay with that?" shouted Naruto. "No one is going to be okay with a Hokage who just wants power, just that!"

"I could care less what they'll think of me. I'm the only one now that has the power to take control. It is a revolution after all so that the villages will no longer exist in darkness and so I can start from scratch so we can all head into a pure white future."

"And so what? You're just going to do that by killing all the five Kages' and the tailed beasts too?"

I nodded my head. "Yes, that is exactly right. I am going to sever that past."

"I," Naruto said, taking a step forward, "will not let you sever that past! I've learned everything I know from the people in my past! And what I've learned is that when you mess up, you get straight back up and figure out what to do next!" We both then each took another step forward." And just to let you know, I'm going to fulfill the promise I made to Sakura! I will bring you back home to Konoha, even if it's the last thing I do!" We both then ran off the top of the statue heads towards each other and clashed.

I woke up with a sudden pain shooting through my body. I tried to move but I just wasn't able to. I opened one eye up and saw that it was already nightfall. I sighed. The battle between me and Naruto lasted for what had felt like forever. During the last part, I sensed Kurama's chakra inside Naruto and helping him regain his strength by molding some of his and passing it on to Naruto. Sensing this, I managed to absorb some of it in time to use it to strengthen my Chidori. Running towards each other, with my Chidori and Naruto's Rasengan in hand, my mind flashed back to our first battle here at the Final Valley. As we neared each other, we looked straight into each others eyes.

 _"I will now be alone. Goodbye Naruto."_ And with that, we delivered our final blows to each other, destroying just about the entire valley and the statues.

I tried to sit up once more, but I wound up falling on my back again. "Ow!"

"So you've finally decided to wake up, huh?" I heard Naruto's voice say. I gasped and slowly but painfully turned my head to realize that Naruto was also laying right beside of me, severely wounded just like I was. "We both can't move at all and we've lost too much blood. You and I.. we're going to die here."

My eyes widened as I looked down and realized both of our dominant arms were gone from the forearm down. My left arm was gone and so was Naruto's right arm. We must've used too much of Kurama's chakra that it destroyed our arms from the elbow down. I exhaled and looked away from him. "Why would you do that to yourself? Why do you always have to get in the way of my plans? I had the power to kill and destroy each and everything that was plunged into darkness and I knew the people who I've met or would ever meet would want to kill me too. But not you. Why? Why are you still so concerned about me after everything I've done to you?!"

Naruto chuckled. "You really should know this by now." He said.

"Just answer the damn question!" I yelled furiously at him. He slowly turned his head to me, a small smile on his lips.

"Because, you're my friend."

I grunted. "You've already told me this! Just what the hell do you mean by that?"

"I don't exactly know how to explain this but whenever I carrying that burden onto yourself, it somehow hurts me too, just like I know it does to you. It's just so much pain, that I just can't leave you alone."

My eyes widened. I closed my eyes and thought back to when we were younger, before we were in Team 7 together. I would remember watching Naruto as he always got punished for doing something stupid, just so he could get attention. I watched him as he would walk home all by himself, just like I would after my parents died. I felt sadness whenever I saw him like that because it made me realize that I wasn't the only one who was alone all this time. I remembered the time we both and Sakura got joined up in Team 7 and the missions. Naruto kept telling me that he was going to be strong like me one day and whenever he would say that to me, I would just shrug him off and bad mouth him. But to tell you the truth, he reminded me of my older brother, and I was jealous of him. I was jealous of the fact that he would form stronger bonds with our classmates and teachers, while I prefered solitude and spend most of my time training instead of getting to know people better, instead of forming stronger bonds with those around me. He had the strength that I did not. This time, he was the victor.

I could feel myself slowly starting to get weaker and weaker. It was even starting to get hard to even keep my eyes open. I took one last look at Naruto, his eyes closed but still smiling. Unbeknownst to him, I smiled back and then finally, closed my eyes.

"Ugh. Are we- are we in heaven?" I heard Naruto ask. I opened my eyes and noticed we were still laying on the ground right beside each other. We survived the night.  
"It seems to me that we somehow managed to sleep 'till morning and we've survived the night."  
"Ow! Damn it! I still can't move! Oh, how I wish I could bash you over the head so I can knock some sense into you!" He yelled. I chuckled at him. He turned his head and glared at me.  
"Hey! What's so funny to you?" He asked.  
"Even after all this, you're still wanting to fight?" I asked him and watched as he kept on trying to move again.  
"Damn straight! I'll take you on anywhere, anytime!" He exclaimed. I smirked at him. I really hated to say this but I had to.  
"Alright, you win. I.. lost."

Naruto gasped and stared at me with a shocked look on his face. After some bickering later, we continued to lay down on top of the two stone hands of Madara and Hashirama which had formed the Reconciliation Seal.

"Sasuke! Naruto!" I heard a voice call out to us. My heart began to beat fast. That voice. I recognized that voice.

"Sakura?" I said weakly as we both looked up and saw Sakura advancing towards us.

"Sakura!" exclaimed Naruto as she stood over us and began to heal our bloody stumps.

"Thanks Sakura." Naruto continued to thank her over and over again. I gazed up at the pink haired young girl who's loved me just about all her life, no matter how many times I had hurt her. I wanted to reach over and hold her hand with my right arm that still remained but I still wasn't able to move

"Sakura, I-"

"Just shut up. I'm trying to concentrate on healing you two." She said to me.

"I'm sorry." I said to her. She opened her eyes and looked at me with a surprised look.

"Sorry? About what?" She asked me.

"For everything...up 'till now."I wanted to keep apologizing to her for all the hurt I caused her throughout the past couple years. I wanted to apologize for calling her annoying, for leaving her on that bench the night I left Konoha, for trying to kill her numerous times when she got in the way, and for never having the strength or courage to able to tell her I loved her.

"You damn well better be..." she cried, tears running down her face once more. "..you jerk." I just smiled up at her. After she was done, she helped both of us sit up, rubbing the tears off her face. We all then stood up, Naruto and I standing beside each other, and formed the Reconciliation Seal with our hands, releasing everyone from the Infinite Tsukoyomi and the tailed beasts from their traps. Everyone was now finally free.

* * *

A few weeks had passed since our final battle and Naruto and I were now all healed up. During our time at the hospital, we were both room mates. I was stuck having to listen to him rambling about our previous missions, how things had been since I had left, and about our battle. I got annoyed with him and kept on telling him to shut up but he just kept on talking. Sakura and Hinata would come and visit us just about every day and change our bandages, care for us, and even feed us. During that time, I got to grow closer to Sakura each day and I got to know more about her and she got to know more about me.

The days passed and it finally came to them letting us out of the hospital. I was so relieved. On that same day, I got ready to leave Konoha. I wanted to redeem myself and look at the world through new eyes. When I left the hospital, I made my way towards one of the blooming cherry blossoms and plucked one off it's branch and tucked it inside the pocket of my black coat. Once I was at the gates, I met up with Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto, who had all came to see me off.

"Now to be honest, under different circumstances, your ass would've wound up in jail, but since you helped aid in the war and end the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and with the support of Naruto and I, as the Sixth Hokage, all your crimes have been pardoned just this once. Now, please try to keep yourself under control this time or it'll be my head that they're going to have." Kakashi explained to me. I nodded my head in agreement.

"Yeah, sorry." I said to him.

"So, you're really going to leave now?" Sakura asked me. "Lady Tsunade is just about ready to finish creating your artificial arm."

"I know, but right now, I need to see the world in clearer eyes."  
"Oh, but well.. what if.. I asked you if I could come with you?" She meekly asked, glancing up at me. I shook my head at her. As much as I would like for her to come, this was a journey to help redeem myself.

"My sins have nothing to do with you. This is a journey of redemption for me." I replied back, watching her as her head drooped down.

"Nothing to do with me..?" I heard her say sadly under her breath. I smiled at her and took a few steps towards her 'till I was right in front of her. Seeing I was standing so close to her, she quickly lifted her head back up and I tapped her on the forehead with my two fingers, the same thing Itachi used to do to me.

"I'll see you when I get back." I said, reaching inside my coat's pocket and taking out the cherry blossom I had tucked in earlier, placing it in her hair behind her ear. "And, thank you." She stood there, lightly blushing, and speechless.

I then bid farewell to Kakashi and Naruto and began to walk down the path, away from the gates of Konoha. I glanced back at them and saw Sakura pluck the cherry blossom from her hair, look down at it, her eyes lighting up, and hold it up to her chest with a smile on her face. The same smile I saw when I gave her back her ribbon when we were younger, the same exact smile I saw that made me fall in love with her in the first place.

" _And, I love you.."_


	3. Chapter 3: Sakura

Hi everyone! Sorry for the late chapter. I haven't been able to get my hands on the computer for about a week because I've been at work a lot and my little brother and sister kept using the computer so I wasn't able to get my hands on it 'till just now, and I really hope you enjoy this chapter. I will hopefully upload the next exciting chapter this weekend, and in the meantime, please don't forget to favorite and review the chapter. :)

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Sakura**

* * *

After traveling the world and seeking redemption for myself, I was finally on my way back to Konoha. The world seemed so much clearer and brighter than I had always imagined it to be. Along the way, I helped villages that had been destroyed by others or by just natural disasters. Helping them made me feel like I was helping myself to become a better person. Also, I met many people through each village I passed. Many of them were kind and caring, while others seemed to be slowly going down the path of evil and power that I had once taken. I did manage to coerce some to leave all that behind and to focus on making a brighter future for themselves because the path of darkness will swallow you in, and you may lose many of those who love you. I also may have had to beat the sense into them.

"As I made my way back to Konoha during the night, I saw a couple of bright, red, flaming objects in the sky, falling down towards Earth. I quickly jumped and made my way towards the top of a large rock. I looked out and I could see the village not too far away, and saw that the objects that were falling down turned out to be meteors, and were falling down on the village. Huge explosions were heard and lots of smoke began rising up towards the sky. I had to get there and help!

With just a few quick leaps, I was no in the middle of the village. The village was just about in ruins, covered in flames that were quickly spreading. Many of the villagers were running away in terror, trying to find a safe place to hide from the oncoming meteors. I looked around, trying to locate Naruto or Sakura but I saw no sign of them. Seeing a villager running straight towards me, I quickly grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him towards me so I could see his face.

"Where is Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno?" I yelled over the screams.

"T-They've gone to save Lady Hinata and her sister from a prince that's trying to destroy the moon as well!" the villager shouted with great panic in his voice.

"Where is Kakashi Hatake then?"

"The Hokage is near the edge of the village with a few teams! They're trying to stop the meteors!" I then let him go and watched as he ran past me along with everyone else. I stood there in the middle of the road with everyone running past me and I watched as the meteors came down.

"Help! Somebody please help us!" I heard a voice shout out. I began to run, trying to find where the shouts were coming from. Shortly enough, I saw a group of villagers trying to push part of a large off another man. I ran and joined in, pushing it with all the might I had in my only arm. After just a few seconds of pushing, another villager managed to get under the wall and pull out the man. Once they helped him get up, I shouted at them, "Go! Go! Find a safe place to hide!" and I pointed to them at the direction the villagers were all running to. They nodded a yes at me, most of them thanking me before running off as well.

I looked around, trying to survey the scene and find where Kakashi must be at. I looked up and noticed the bright moon shining down on us. There was a big object in front of it, slowly descending it's way down. To my horror, I realized it was another meteor, but this meteor was bigger than the ones that had fallen down on us. Suddenly, I noticed a long bright green light making it's way towards it. I saw that it was actually a team combining their chakra, forming together as they neared the meteor.

" _They won't be able to destroy the meteor with just that!"_ I exclaimed, running and leaping as fast as I could towards them. They came into contact with the meteor, but they were only able to destroy just barely half of it, the other half still making its descent down towards us.

" _I know what will stop it!"_ I ran as fast as I could towards the edge of the small cliff I was on and jumped towards it.

"CHIDORI!" I shouted, coming in contact with the meteor, destroying all of it.

"Sasuke." I heard a voice say behind me. I turned my head around to make eye contact with the person who said my name. It was Kakashi. I had just saved him.

"I will take care of Konoha while Naruto's gone." I said to him. "And tell Sakura, I will be waiting for her." And in a flash, I was gone.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV***

As soon as we made our descent back to our village, we were greeted by all the villagers, many who were so happy to see us, others had tears in their eyes. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned my head to look over my shoulder, watching as Naruto and Hinata walked hand in hand behind me with Hanabi holding Hinata's free hand. Hinata's father, Hiashi, made his way towards them, hugging Hanabi and Hinata with all his might, tears streaming down his face, something that amazed me just as well as everyone else. He was known to be very strict and not show much emotion, seeing him like this was strange and new.

I continued watching as he held on to both of them. He didn't want to let them go. He almost lost them but luckily, Naruto was there to save them. After he was done hugging them, he then made his way towards Naruto, and hugged him tightly. Surprising Naruto also, he stood there, not knowing what to do, before finally giving Hiashi a pat on the back.

"Sakura!" I heard a voice yell from behind me. Quickly wielding myself around to see who it was, I saw my parents running towards me with their arms open.

"Mom! Dad!" I cried out as I ran into them, hugging both of them and holding on. I didn't want to let them go at all either, just like Hiashi didn't want to let go of his only two daughters.

"Oh Sakura! I am so glad you're alright!" my mom said to me, her voice breaking. I was crying along with her and so was my father.

"Thanks Mom! I'm just so glad you and dad are both alright." I said, still holding on to them.

"Great job Sakura." I heard Kakashi's voice say from behind us. Still snifling and tears running down all three of our faces, we turned to look at Kakashi.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt this important family moment." He said. I wiped the tears away from my face with my hand walked towards him with a smile.

"I'm so glad all of you came back home safe." He said as we hugged each other.

"Thank you Kakashi sensei!" I said to him.

"You're welcome but it's you, Naruto, and the rest of the team whom I, as Hokage, and the entire village, thank for saving us." He let me go, shaking my hand. Before I could turn around and go back to my parents, he gently pulled me back.

"Sakura, I have an important message from someone who helped protect our village from the meteors while you were gone." He said to me. My heart began to beat fast. Could it be?

"What did he say?" I asked him. I could hear my heart beating in my own ears as I waited for his response.

"Sasuke, he wanted me to tell you that he will be waiting for you." He finally said. He was here! Sasuke was here!

"Thank you Kakashi sensei! Thank you so much!" I said, wrapping him in one last embrace before letting go. He nodded back at me and I then turned around, ran back towards my parents who were anxiously waiting to hold me once again. Once I was in their arms once more, I couldn't help but smile as Kakashi and the rest of the entire village surrounded us.

Later that night, after we had helped the villagers reconstruct their homes, I decided to go out for a walk. I inhaled the cool, night air into my lungs, pulling my red winter over-coat tighter on me. Walking down the road, I waved at many of the villagers who were camping out in shelters or in peoples' houses that were still intact and hadn't been severly damaged who had opened their doors to let them stay. There was still a few villagers working on their homes late at night.

It had began to snow, but I kept on walking 'till I reached the bench where Sasuke had left me that night. The night he called me annoying. The night he left Konoha. The night he said, "Sakura.. thank you."  
Being here brought back so memories of him when he was still with us, when we were still Team 7. I smiled, remembering those times.

" _Sasuke said that he will be waiting for you."_ Kakashi's words echoed through my head as I gazed up at the moon in the sky.

"Sasuke, I'm here waiting for you too." I said aloud, my gaze still up at the moon.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV***

I sat in the crook of a tree, observing the village as the night fell. While I was watching them, I felt something small and cold on my hand. I looked down and noticed it was a snowflake. I looked up a the sky and saw that it was snowing. Then, I turned my attention back to the village and someone walking down the road who caught my eye. It was Sakura. She was making her way towards the bench where we had last seen each other the night I left Konoha.

 _"You did come."_ I said to myself. Quietly, I made my way back down to the ground from the tree. I slowly and quietly walked behind her and I stood directly behind her while she was next to the bench and looking up at the moon, I heard her say "Sasuke.. I'm here waiting for you too."

I smiled and opened my mouth to finally speak to her.

"Sakura."


	4. Chapter 4: A Wedding

**Chapter Four: A Wedding**

* * *

"Wow, I've never seen you so nervous before Sasuke." Naruto told me as he helped me tie a sash around my waist on my black kimono.

"Hn." I said, loosely tucking the sash into my black pants with one slightly shaking hand. Today, me and Sakura, are getting married.  
After that night that we were finally reunited together, I confessed my love to her and I decided to stay for a few more weeks. During that time, we got even more closer than we had when I had spent time in the hospital recovering from my battle with Naruto. I even met her parents, who were at first hesitant that their daughter was with the former traitor of Konoha, an Uchiha, but did help save their daughter and aid in the war, after some talking, I eventually managed to talk them into letting us be together.

When those last few weeks were just about up, I left Konoha again, but not before proposing to her. When I did, she screamed with excitement and tackled me, wrapping me into an embrace. Her screams, though did alert just about the entire village that they all came out to see what was going on and they found her on top of me, while I was trying to support both myself and her with my one hand. Our classmates and her parents were amongst the villagers. It was a little embarrassing.

"Finally!" exclaimed Naruto who was holding Hinata's hand. "You two are now together and it looks like you can't even keep your hands off each other! I should expect children here in a little while." He grinned, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, but I glared at him.

" _Naruto, you idiot!"_ I said to myself. I looked at her parents and I could see her dad's eye twitching and the veins on his forehead looked like they were getting ready to pop out any second. I wanted to tell him that it's not what it looks like. Well, maybe it is.

When Sakura saw her father's facial expression, she quickly jumped off of me and ran towards him, showing him and her mom the ring I had just now proposed to her with. Now the ring was one that had been passed down in my clan for generations and it had belonged to my mother before she passed. The ring had a big diamond right in the center with four other small diamonds encrusted around it. The band, instead of being gold, was red and white, the Uchiha colors.

Her mother and all of the village women huddled around her to get a closer look at it and all of them cried out in delight, complementing the ring on her finger. Her dad peeked at it for about a second and began making his way towards me. I managed to try to keep a calm composure. He stood in front of me and I swore, I thought he was going kill me! Instead, he reached a hand out to help me up and once I was standing upright, he gave me a big bear hug and said "Welcome to the family!"

I stayed for a few extra days so me and Sakura could talk with our teammates and her parents about the wedding which we decided to schedule for Spring which was only four months away. During my stay, we got the invitations ready and to be sent out a month before the wedding. We got the decorations ordered, the bouquet was ordered at the Yamanaka Flower Shop, and we got fitted for our kimonos. After my few days were up, I got ready to leave on my next journey. I left the house and walked hand in hand with Sakura towards the gates.

When we got there, Naruto and Hinata were waiting there as well. Before I bid farewell to them, Naruto was a little upset that I wasn't going to be able to attend his wedding, which was next week, as his best man.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but how about you become my best man for mine and Sakura's wedding?" I said to him, which he happily agreed to. I turned to Sakura, cupped her chin in my hand, and kissed her lips.

"I'll be back for you soon. I promise." I said, tapping her on the forehead.

Now those months flew by fast and before I knew it, here I was standing inside of the renovated Uchiha house, which Kakashi and Naruto helped fix up, along with the entire village, while I was gone. After my kimono was finally put on and I had put my black sandals on my feet, we walked out of my house and began to make our way to the Hokage Tower.

Once we were there, I looked around at the wedding decorations. Instead of having the wedding inside, me and Sakura settled for having it outside. Now, the wedding decorations were amazing and had great detail to it.

The entire Hokage Tower, with Kakashi's permission, had a long green vine going around it, and from that vine, there were many different types of flowers hanging and blooming from it. There was orchids, sunflowers, lilies, roses, cherry blossoms, etc.  
 _"Wow, Ino really out did herself this year."_ I thought to myself.

"Hey Sasuke!" I heard Ino shout out as she and Sai made their way towards us, waving something in her hand. "I got something for you." She then pinned whatever was in her hand to my kimono. I looked down at it and noticed that she had pinned a cherry blossom to my breast pocket, right next to the handstitched Uchiha crest.

"I thought that since the cherry blossoms were blooming beautifully this year, you and Sakura should each were something that has a cherry blossom on it." She explained to me.

"Thank you Ino." I said to her and she smiled at me. She then grabbed Sai's hand and led him to where her family was. They were both engaged now and they were to marry sometime this summer, which surprised me 'cause I never thought of those two being together.

Naruto and I both then made our way to the front of the aisle and waited for the rest of our guests to come. As the minutes flew by, more and more people arrived. Kakashi, who was going to wed Sakura and I, actually didn't arrive late this one time. As soon as all the guests were finally here, all we had to do was wait for Sakura to arrive. I looked down at my feet, slightly rocking back and forth on them, anxiously waiting for her arrival.

"She'll be here soon Sasuke." Naruto assured me, giving me a soft pat on the back.

"Hn." I replied, still looking down at my feet. I actually never thought I'd be this nervous in all my life.

"She's here!" I heard someone shout, and I quickly snapped my head back up, gazing around trying to find her. She was coming up the aisle with one of her arms wrapped around her father's. As she got closer, I felt like I had stopped breathing. She was dressed in a bright pink kimono that had the images of cherry blossoms stitched on it. Around her waist, she wore a white sash that had real cherry blossoms pinned to the side. And in her hair, she had a couple of cherry blossoms pinned behind one of her ears. Needless to say, she was beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful.

Within just a few seconds, we were now standing right in front of each other at the end of the aisle and with Kakashi right next to us, reading our vows out to us. The time went by fast and before we both knew it, Kakashi pronounced us as husband and wife. I wrapped my hand around her waist and moved her closer to me, bending down to kiss her. Sakura must've been really excited that she was now my wife that she wrapped me in a tight embrace that I felt was going to break my back any second and planted a huge kiss on my lips. I heard the guests awe. She let go of me and punched one fist in the air and screamed " **YES!"** at the top of her lungs. ( **Author's Note: I think we'd all scream if we got to marry Sasuke Uchiha. ;)**

I smirked at her, then quickly cupped her chin in my hand, tilted her head up towards me, and kissed her back. The guests awed again and I heard Naruto chuckling.  
"Wow, you two have only been married for like five seconds and now you want to get busy!" We both heard him say but this time, we didn't say anything back to him. We just stood there in front of the aisle, holding and kissing each other.

The reception flew by fast and before we knew it, we were heading down to my house at the Uchiha compound, walking hand in hand. She leaned against my arm, a dreamy smile on her face. I smiled back down at her. Finally, after all this time, we were both together and married now. My family's faces flashed before me and I stopped in my tracks.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" Sakura asked me with a concerned look on her face.

"Nothing." I said to her, kissing her on the forehead. "I just remembered, there is something I have to do." I then began leading her to the Uchiha cemetery. I was afraid she'd question why we were in a cemetery when it was already nightfall, but she didn't say anything.

We stopped in front of three tombstones that were in the very front and center of the cemetery. Those tombstones belonged to my mother, my father, and Itachi. Without a word, I unpinned the cherry blossom from my breast pocket and layed it in front of my mother's tombstone. Sakura did the same, unpinning two of her's from her hair and laying it in front of my father and Itachi's tombstones. I gave her a small smile and held her hand, our fingers entwining together.

"Hey mom.. dad.. Itachi," I slowly began saying, still holding on to Sakura's hand. "I got married today. I got married to Sakura Haruno. You probably don't know her dad, but mom and Itachi do. Itachi once saved her, and mother knew about her from when I was little. All I have to tell you about her is that she's very beautiful, brave, strong.. sometimes a little too strong." We both lightly laughed. "and, she can be a little bit annoying at times." I added.

"Hey!" she softly punched me in the arm with a pout on her face. I kissed her on the lips and her pout immediately disappeared and formed into a smile once again.

"But," I continued, "I love her. I love her so much." Sakura leaned on me once again and I did the same back.

" _And mom, you were right. I did love once.. and I was able to love again once more. Thank you."_


	5. Chapter 5: A New Beginning

**Chapter Five: A New Beginning**

* * *

"Okay, now THIS is the second time I've seen you so nervous." commented Naruto as I paced back and forth down the hallway in front of him.  
"How can I not be? They've been in there for too long. What if something's happened?" I leaned against the wall, tired and worried. I slowly slid down the wall, sitting on the cold, hard, hospital floor. Naruto got up from his chair and sat down next to me, putting an arm around my shoulder.

"Sasuke, everything is going to be okay. Sakura and the baby are both strong. They're going to make it." He assured me. He was right. Sakura was a strong woman, and our baby, being both her's and mine, was strong as well. I sighed and leaned my head back against the wall, remembering how the past nine months..

* * *

It had been just a few months after we got married and all was going great. It was early morning and I was getting my stuff ready to leave on another journey when I heard footsteps running down the hall behind me and into the bathroom. I made my way down the hallway and stopped in front of the bathroom door.  
"Sakura?" I asked, my hand placed on the doorknob. "Are you alright?" I heard the toilet flush and the bathroom door open. Sakura stepped out, wiping her mouth with a paper towel.  
"Hey. I'm okay." She said weakly. I could tell she wasn't alright at all.  
"Sakura, don't lie to me. Something is wrong. You've been like this for about a week now." I said with a concerned look on my face.  
"I'll go see Lady Tsunade soon. I promise." She said and she began brushing her teeth in front of the sink. My brow furrowed sternly.  
"Not soon. We're going now!" I said and grabbed her hand, pulled her out of the bathroom, out of our house, and down the path towards the hospital. Once we were inside, I made an appointment for her to see Lady Tsunade as soon as possible today and while we waited for our turn to go in, we sat down in the chairs out in the lobby. Well, I did. She refused to.

After just a few minutes of waiting in silence, she kicked me in the leg. I looked up at her and gave her my "What the hell?" look. She stood above me with her arms crossed.  
"Sasuke, there is nothing wrong with me! I am fine! It's probably just that stupid flu that's going around. Besides, don't you have to leave on one of your journeys today?" She asked me.  
"There is something wrong, and I am not leaving 'till I am sure you're okay." I rebuffed back to her. She then gave out a yell and punch the wall behind her, causing a huge cracked dent in it. I just kept looking at her.

"You know, you've been awfully moody lately." I said, rolling my eyes at her. I glanced up at her and she was practically shooting daggers at me from her eyes.  
"Moody my a-" She started to say, but was interrupted when a young nurse stepped out of a room with a clipboard in her hand. She looked a little scared and nervous, not knowing whether she should interrupt us or scammer away.

"Um, Mrs. Uchiha?" She asked, her voice slightly quivering and looking up at the cracked dent. Sakura quickly composed herself.  
"Yes?" She said in her most innocent tone of voice.  
"Lady Tsunade will see you now."  
"Alright, I'll be right there." Sakura told her and quickly turned on her heel and pretty much ran back inside the office and shut the door with a loud bang. Sakura walked directly right past me towards Tsunade's office with me slowly trailing behind her. Once we were inside Tsunade's office, she welcomed us.

When she asked what we were seeing her for, I told her about how Sakura had been feeling weird for about a week now and every morning, she would run to the bathroom and throw up. I also once again added that she'd been more moody than usual, to which Sakura punched me in the shoulder... hard, in response.

"Okay. I think I know what is going on, but I'm going to take some blood work from you Sakura, just to be sure I'm right." Tsunade said, leading Sakura out of her office and into another room. About fifteen minutes passed before Sakura finally came back, a bandage covering the inside of her arm from where they took blood.  
"She said it'll be a few minutes before the results are in." She said to me, patting my hand. "And, I'm sorry for punching you.. and kicking you." I, in turn, gave her hand a small squeeze.  
"However much time it takes, I'll handle it as long as I know nothing is wrong with you." I replied to her.

We waited for about another ten minutes before Tsunade finally came back into her office carrying a clipboard with what seemed to be Sakura's test results. She sat down in front of us with an expressionless look on her face. We both held our breaths, waiting for the results.

"Just as I expected," she said a smile slowly forming on her lips. "Congratulations you two! Sakura, you're pregnant!"

My eyes widened in shock and Sakura gasped, grabbing the clipboard from Tsunade, her eyes skimming over the paper.

 _"What?! Did she just say Sakura was pregnant?!"_ I thought to myself. Once Sakura was done reading the paper, she grinned from ear to ear and threw both her hands up in the air, screaming.  
"I'm going to be a mom! And, Sasuke, you're going to be a father!" She screamed, wrapping her hands around my arm and shaking both of us. I was pretty much still in shock that I didn't react.  
I suddenly stood up and walked out of the office. I walked only a few feet before leaning against the wall with my hand supporting me. I was panting, like as if I had just ran for miles without stopping.  
" _I'm going to be a father.."_ I thought to myself. My mind was racing with so many things. What if I turn out to be a horrible father? What if later on, something happens to the child that makes it want to go down the path of darkness, the same path I took? Or, what if someone decides to use the child against me and Sakura?

"Sasuke! What's wrong?" I heard Sakura shouting behind me as ran up the hallway to where I was. She helped me lean away from the wall and took my face in both her hands and turned it so I was looking into her eyes.

"Nothing's wrong Sakura." I said, taking her hand from my face and holding it. "I- I just.. I don't know.." I didn't know what to say to her.  
"Are you not happy?" Sakura asked me, tears starting to form in her eyes.  
"Of course I'm happy! I-I'm thrilled, really!" I said as I wiped the tear that was falling down the side of her face and held her face in my hand, leaning her head towards mine so our foreheads were touching. "I'm just scared." I said in a whisper. I can't believe I said that.  
"Scared? Of what?"  
"Of everything. What if something happens to the baby or to you? I could never forgive myself if something horrible did happen to the both of you. And, what if this child," I took my hand from her face and placed it on her flat stomach, "goes down the same path I took all those years ago? Or what if someone uses our child against the both of us?"

"Sasuke," she began to say, wrapping me in an embrace. "You're not the only one who's worried. I'm worried too. But should be worry because that's never going to happen. It's over. The war is finally over, and right now, it's a peaceful time and it's going to be like that for years to come. And, if I'm wrong, and peace ends and the war starts all over again, we'll get through it together."

And from that day on, all my worries disappeared. I had decided to stay home and not go on any of my journeys throughout that year because I wanted to spend time with Sakura and be there for her and our child. Sakura suffered from morning sickness for the first trimester but it eventually and slowly surpressed by the second trimester. She would awaken me in the middle of the night just about every day to make herself something to eat or for me to go make it for her. She craved lots syrup coated anko dumplings, umeboshi, and anmitsu. She also did crave spicy food every once in a while, which is very unusual for her since she does not exactly like anything spicy.

She did get a little bit more moody that I thought she would. She'd be calm one second, and then without warning, she'd be someone who you would now want to be around. For example, she was eating her dumplings while I was eating a rice ball with a small bowl of tomato soup for dinner, dipping the rice ball into the ball during each bite, when suddenly my Sharingan activated itself. I heard a bloodcurdling scream and looked up in time to see a plate flying towards me. Luckily, I managed to duck down underneath the table in time before it hit me, shattering against the wall into a hundred pieces. I looked up at Sakura, who was crying, saying she was fat and whatnot. I, of course, comforted her and offered her a frozen popsicle which she gladly accepted from me.

As the months passed, our child grew more and more as the time went by. Near the end of the fifth month of her pregnancy, our child began to start kicking. When we would go out to the store together, or to visit one of our teammates, or to just enjoy a nice peaceful walk, we would get swarmed with the villagers, mostly women, to see if they could feel Sakura's stomach in the hopes of feeling our baby kick. When I first felt her kick, it scared me a little. It felt so weird having a small human being kick you from inside another person, but then again, it felt wonderful. Whenever Sakura felt our child move, she'd let me know and I would rush to her side so I could feel the baby kick.

Sakura also seemed to be more happier during her entire pregnancy. She had that beautiful glow that everyone says pregnant women have. I've seen other women in the village pregnant, but none of them had ever emitted such a beautiful glow like Sakura did. Not even Hinata, who had just given birth to her and Naruto's first child, Boruto Uzumaki, just a couple months before me and Sakura had ours.

As the days passed, I found myself falling in love with her over and over again. I also still couldn't get through my head that we conceived a child through the love that me and her both shared for each other, the love that she had given me since we were younger, which took me years to realize them and share them in return. I loved her so much.

"Mr. Uchiha?" came a woman's voice that shook me out of my thoughts.  
"Yes?" I asked, still sitting on the floor next to Naruto, looking up at the nurse.  
"Your wife and your child are both waiting for your in their room." She said to me with a smile on her face.  
Naruto jumped up from where he was sitting and pumped a fist in the air. "I'M AN UNCLE, BELIEVE IT!"  
Uncle? Wait, what?

I decided not to protest against him at that moment because the only thing that was on my mind was being with Sakura and our child. I too jumped up and hastily ran past the nurse and to their room, my black cloak flying around behind me, and Naruto hot on my feet.

I practically barged through the door and once I was in the room, I saw Sakura sitting up in a hospital bed holding a small bundle wrapped in a yellow blanket in her arms. She looked up at me and Naruto and gestured us to come closer. I slowly walked towards the bed, Naruto still standing at the doorway, deciding to stay back, letting us have this special moment together.

As I got closer, our baby came more into view. It was a baby girl. She had short, black hair and onyx colored eyes like mine. She looked a lot like me but she had the same facial and eye shape as Sakura's. She was so beautiful.

"She's so beautiful." Sakura commented, stroking our child's face.  
"Just like you.." I said back to her as I sat next to her in bed. Sakura blushed and gave me a small, gentle smile. I bent my head down and kissed her on the forehead.  
"What should we name her?"she asked me as our baby looked back up at us, yawning. To tell you the truth, me and Sakura hadn't discussed baby names alot because we were wanting to wait and see if we were going to have a boy or girl first. But, I did have one name in mind.  
"How about Sarada?" I asked.  
"Sarada. Sarada Uchiha. I like that name." Sakura said to me. Sarada looked up at us and gave us a small smile before closing her eyes and going to sleep. Sakura giggled at the sight and I smiled.  
"I think she likes her name as well." Sakura said as she swayed her gently in her arms. I put my arm around her and the baby, thinking to myself what a wonderful family I have now.

 _I love you all.  
_

* * *

 **Hi everyone! Sorry for the late chapter. Work has just been taking up most of all my time and when I'm off, I'm not always able to get my hands on the computer, but luckily today I did! Please don't forget to Favorite and Review!**


	6. Chapter 6: A Peaceful Time

**Chapter Six: A Peaceful Time**

* * *

"Mama, papa, are you both going to be able to attend my ninja academy entrance ceremony tomorrow?" asked seven year-old Sarada as she stood in front of the kitchen doorway, her hands behind her back, and tilting back and forth on her feet, the red ribbon in her hair flowing along with her movements. It was starting to get dark outside and Sakura and I were sitting at the kitchen table next to each other, discussing where I was going to travel to when I left on my next journey when she came in. We both looked up from the map that was laid out on the table.

"Of course Sarada! I wouldn't miss it for the world!" beamed Sakura. Sarada gently smiled at her then turned to look at me.  
"Papa, are you coming tomorrow too?" She asked, eyeing the map on the table. Sakura kicked me underneath the table. I shot her a look then looked back at Sarada.  
"Hn. I'll be there Sarada." I said to her. She cocked an eyebrow at me.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yes, I'm sure of it."  
"Okay." satisfied, Sarada turned on her heel and made her way towards her room. Once I heard the door shut, I looked back at Sakura.

"Why'd you kick me underneath the table for?" I asked her. She shrugged her shoulders.  
"I was just wanting to make sure you were going to say yes and not no. You know how much this means to her and you know she wants the both of us there to see her. She doesn't get to see you much.. and neither do I." She sighed sadly and looked back down at the map, her hair falling down over her face as her pin fell off her hair and on to the table. "I just don't like to see you leave all the time because I never know if you're going to come back again or not. I'm just afraid that one day, you won't ever come back to me." She said, her voice slightly breaking, a small tear streamed down her face and on to the map.

I reached my hand out to her face and turned her head so she was facing me. Her face was starting to get red and puffy around her eyes from where she had started crying. I grabbed her green pin from the table and pinned it back in her pink hair. Then, I wiped the tears that were streaming down her face off. I smiled at her as she smiled back at me. I reached my hand back up to her face and tapped her gently on the forehead with two of my fingers.

"Why do you do that?" She asked, grabbing my hand before I had a chance to put it back down and holding it with hers.

"It's to show you I love you." I said. She blushed a little and giggled. She then turned back to look at the map and her smile vanished. I know she never liked seeing me go off on any of my journeys. When she would see me off, she'd do it with a smile, but I knew that behind that smile, was a sad, tearful Sakura, wanting to run after me and hold me, begging me not to go. I was usually gone only a couple of weeks, but sometimes I wouldn't come back for months at a time. All of this had taken a toll on her.

I sighed, reaching over to the map and folding it in halves. I tucked it into the purple bag that was hanging on the back of the chair, one I always carried around with me. When I turned back around, Sakura looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"Sasuke, you still haven't chosen where you're going to go to next." She said to me. I nodded my head back at her, smirking.

"I know. I just decided that I'll postpone the next journey for about a couple more weeks." Her eyes got big and she looked at me shocked before she smiled from ear to ear, squealed, and lunged at me from her chair to hug me. My chair was knocked over and we both fell back on to the floor. I was laying flat on my back and Sakura was on top of me.

"Oops. Sorry Sasuke." She meekly said, blushing.

"Hn." I said. I reached for the back of her head down towards me and I lifted my face up towards her's so we were now both closely face to face. I tilted her head down more 'till I felt her sweet lips on mine. I moved my hand from the back of her head down to the middle of her back and wrapped it around her in an embrace. She did the same. We continued to kiss for 'till we heard someone clearing their throat. We both looked up and saw that it was Sarada glaring down at us in disgust with her arms crossed.

"Cha! Mama, papa, get a room! I'm pretty sure you have one." She said as she continued to glare down at us. Sakura blushed once more and quickly jumped off of me and helped me stand back up.

"Sarada, sweetie, we just got a little excited. That was all." She said as she nervously laughed.

"Excited? About what?" Sarada asked. I stepped forward.

"I decided to postpone my trip for a few weeks so I can spend more time with you and your mother." I said, looking at Sakura and gently smiling back at her.

"Really?" She asked with a surprised look on her face.

"Really." I said, nodding my head.

"Cha! That's great!" She yelled as she ran towards me and Sakura, hugging us both. Sakura looked up at me and mouthed the words "Thank you." I nodded my head back at her.

"Mama, papa?" Sarada said, looking up at us.

"Yes sweetie?" asked Sakura.

"I want to be a big sister." Me and Sakura both sweat dropped and our faces turned bright red.

* * *

"Congratulations to everyone!" Naruto boasted from the stand in his Hokage attire to the upcoming new students at the academy. Sakura and I stood amongst the other parents watching their children. I glanced around the crowd of new students and managed to find Sarada standing near the front alongside with who seemed to be Boruto, Naruto's son.

"I hope each and everyone of you strive to be the best shinobis' this world has ever seen and if you have a dream, don't ever stop chasing it 'till it comes true! Believe it!" Once he was done, all of the parents and the students applauded. The adults then all spread out in different directions to go find their children and meet their future sensei's. Sarada found us before we did and she had Boruto with her.

"Hey Uncle Sasuke! Hey Aunt Sakura!" shouted Boruto with excitement when he saw us. Of course we weren't exactly his biological uncle and aunt, but he did consider us as part of his family just like Naruto did. "How have you both been?" He fist bumped me and hugged Sakura.  
"Why, hi Boruto! How nice to see you again! Your father did a really great speech." Sakura complemented him. He crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders, a scowl on his face.

" Yeah, I guess my old man's speech was okay." He said.

"Well this old man is going to want to have a talk with you later on today for what you did to the Hokage Monument when we get home." Naruto said from behind Boruto 'causing him to flinch and start sweating bullets. He, Hinata, and their youngest daughter, Himawari, had quietly walked up behind them to come and talk to us but he didn't say anything once Boruto spoke.

"Big brother is in trouble." Himawari said, holding Hinata's hand and pointing a finger at Boruto. He slowly turned his head to look up at his father, his eyes still wide with fear.

"Uh father! I-I- I was just joking around with them about your speech." Boruto stammered as he nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his head, the same way Naruto used to do, and still does, to this day. "Your speech was amazing dad! Truly! Believe it!" He finished, grinning up at him. Naruto of course can never stay mad at his children for no longer than five seconds and smiled back down at Naruto and patted his head.

"Thank you Boruto!" He said before he looked up at us. "Hey Sasuke and Sakura! How's everything been going on at home?"

"Everything is going well, thank you Naruto." Sakura said with a smile.

"That's great! When will you be leaving on your next trip Sasuke?" He asked me.

"I've actually decided to postpone my trip for a few more weeks. Right now I was to spend more time with my family." I said, looking at Sakura and Sarada. Sakura smiled at me and leaned against me, holding my hand and Sarada looked up at me, smiling.

"Oh really? That's great! You guys should come up and see us sometime! We could all go out to the park with the children or we could train! I think I'm starting to get a little rusty, you know haha! Oh, we could also go out for some ramen! My treat!" Naruto beamed at us.

"Thanks! We'll see when we can come up on a day when we and you are not to busy." I said.

"Alright! You know, we'll probably be seeing each other a whole lot more now that Sarada and Boruto are now classmates. And who know's, maybe they'll be something more when they get older." He grinned sheepishly at us. Sarada and Boruto both looked up at him with confused looks, wondering what he meant by that. My eye twitched.  
"D _on't you even think about it!"_ I said inside my head.

"Yeah, haha! Maybe." Sakura nervously laughed.

"Well, we'll see you both around, alright?" Naruto said as he took Hinata's hand and turned around to start walking back home with them.

"Hn. See you." I said, waving at them.

"What did the seventh mean by that?" Sarada asked us as she walked hand in hand with us back towards our home.

"I don't know. He's an idiot." I said.

"So is Boruto." Sarada replied and I smirked. Like father, like son.

After walking for a while, Sarada spoke again.

"Mama, papa?" She said and Sakura and I both looked at her.

"Thank you again for coming today and.. thank you for everything. I love you." She said, looking up at the both of us.

We both love you as well Sarada." Sakura said, giving Sarada's hand a small squeeze. I smiled at both of them. I thought back when I was younger, I had my mother's love, and I strived to do so much to have my father just tell me "That's my boy." I remember when Itachi would poke me on the forehead with his two fingers, a sign that meant he loved and cared about me. I thought back when I gave Sakura her ribbon back when it had floated off her hair when she had been watching me at school. I remember her smile when she held the ribbon up to her chest, the same smile I saw on her when I pinned the cherry blossom to her hair before I left on my first journey. It took me so long to realize that after all the pain I had put her and Naruto through, she never once stopped loving me. And Naruto, who knew how much Sakura loved me, never stopped 'till he finally managed to bring me back to Konohoa to her, the promise he had made to her after I had left.

I've had made so many decisions, and out of all them, coming back to Konohoa and letting myself fall in love with Sakura once more, were one of the greatest decisions I have ever made. And out of that love, we both conceived Sarada, who I knew was going to grow up to be a great shinobi. She was going to be amazing, just like her mother and me.

I looked at Sakura and Sarada who were both laughing about something I hadn't paid attention to listen to and smiled at them. I loved them both so much. I looked out and noticed the sun was just now starting to set, signaling the near end of another wonderful day. All was now well.

* * *

 **Well everyone, this is the end of Sasuke's Decision. Thank you all so much for those who have read this story. And if you're going to ask for a sequel, well I haven't exactly thought about writing a sequel to this but there is a chance there probably will be one. And again, thank you! Please don't forget to Favorite and Review!**


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